Dear YellowPages: You’re Dead!
Jan 27
Dear YellowPages,
Over the last few years there has been much talk about the inevitable extinction of print directories such as YellowPages, YellowBook, and SuperPages.
1. There is a mass exodus of print-directory users. Everything is going digital.
2. The wasteful use of paper is completely obscene and becoming very unpopular.
3. Local business owners have much more cost-effective local marketing options than ever before.
With all of the above being true, how on earth are you surviving? How are you able to justify your ridiculous advertising rates to your prospective clients? How are you explaining your declines and losses to shareholders? The time has come to pull the plug and admit it. You’re dead.
Sincerely,
RelyLocal – Locally owned and operated across America
I could not agree more. Since 09/01 – 09/09 I sold yellow pages to all types of business merchants. 9 years ago, phone books were used by 60% of consumers aged 18-80. TODAY, approximately 9% (a 51% decline) still reference print directories 1st! Therefore smart business owners get MUCH BETTER ROI ON OTHER MEDIA INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: Internet, Direct Mail, Radio, Billboards, T.V., Flyer’s, Smart Phones. Yes, we are in a wireless age. Paper is a valuable product that can better be utilized for other more important purposes. If Alexander Graham Bell were alive today he would say ” Phone Books are a thing of the past similar to Vinyl Records being replaced by C.D.’S!
Great point! Its amazing that the YellowPages, YellowBook, etc., is still overcharging advertisers for their ads and getting away with it. I’m even interested in finding out how much online consumers go to the online YellowPages, SuperPages, etc., versus simply using Google to search for local businesses – If anyone has any statistics on this, please shed some light.
Thanks.
Getting people to use that big yellow book is becoming unpopular if we are going to ask people around these days.
That is a big eye opener especially for those businesses who want to get their share of more site traffic and profits today. They have to embrace the power of search engines as a great way to make these things happen for their business, agree?
And yes, it is high time to save the trees. Go online today. 🙂